Beware of Alien Bogeys
by thisdayandage
Summary: Oh, that's a rubbish title, forget that title. Set after Curse of The Black Spot, when The Doctor gets alien bogeys on him. Basically, he gets sick and the Ponds help him get better. This is my first fanfic, so I'd love to recieve some reviews. Whump
1. Lethargy

All was quiet, except for the distant sound of the engines hissing and rumbling. Rory Pond lay awake, staring at the elaborate architecture of the TARDIS' ceiling. He couldn't sleep, because he couldn't stop worrying about The Doctor. He wasn't sure how long it had been, because time passes in such a different way when you travel in the TARDIS, but for a while now The Doctor had been acting odd. Well, odd for The Doctor anyway. Whilst they had visited other planets and had a lot of fun, The Doctor seemed more withdrawn than usual. So unusually quiet, it was lethargic. The Doctor was perfectly happy to leave Rory and Amy to their own devices, while he stayed back to tinker with his ship. It was getting more and more suspicious. Rory had to know what was wrong, before he could get any rest.

Leaning over the edge of his bunk, he looked down at his wife. She was turned towards the wall, still in her clothes and huddled into a fetal position. But was she asleep? He felt bad about disturbing her, but he really had to talk to her.  
>"Amy." He said in a hushed voice. Amy turned over, her eyes clearly wide awake. "You can't sleep either then?" Rory asked her. Amy nodded.<br>"I'm worried about The Doctor." She stated. Rory looked to her sympathetically and gingerly climbed down the ladder in the near-darkness to join his wife. He just squeezed on the edge of her bunk and placed an arm around her, pulling her tight to his shoulder.  
>"Do you think there's something he's not telling us, Amy?"<br>She considered this for a moment, then said "Well, it wouldn't be the first time." And Rory couldn't help but agree. The Doctor didn't share much of proper significance with them, even though he'd usually never shut up.  
>After a while of silence Rory turned Amy towards him in his arms and said "I'm going to go speak with him. Find out what's up." Pulling himself up from the lower bunk, he donned his orange dressing gown, over his green checked pyjamas. Amy hopped out of bed and followed right behind her husband.<p>

Hand in hand, the Ponds entered the brightly-lit console room, unsurprised to see The Doctor tinkering with the controls and gazing at his scanner. Rory thought he looked pale, as the thin Time Lord leaned his head against the scanner and closed his eyes for a few seconds, before turning his gaze up at the sound of his companions' footsteps.  
>"Ah, Ponds!" he announced, before asking "What are you doing up?"<br>"We couldn't sleep" replied Rory.  
>"Hmm, I hear that can be a problem. I suggest counting sheep, or better yet, cocoa, a nice mug of steaming-hot cocoa. Yes that's it. Come along Ponds." And with that he led them both to the TARDIS' kitchen.<p> 


	2. Cocoa

This room was very similar to the console room, although in place of the console stood a small round table and a few stools, all bolted to the floor. Around the walls there was very few cupboards and a small fridge which for all Rory knew could have been bigger on the inside. A device similar to a microwave oven sat next to a fruit bowl that seemed to consist mainly of bananas, on a long curved bench which was lined with all sorts of kitchen paraphernalia, which Rory wasn't sure, exactly what sort of function they existed for and honestly he couldn't care less.  
>The Doctor turned his back to them and began to move round the strange kitchen, organising and putting together their supper.<br>Rory regarded his wife, her face pulled into a sort of frown. Rory knew what she was thinking. The Doctor seemed to be acting normal, but how long before he blew this cover and became lethargic again?  
>"Doctor?" said Rory "We were wondering.. are you okay?"<br>"I'm always okay" replied The Doctor, but then he sneezed and yelled out as he dropped a mug on his foot. "Why do you ask?" He took out a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and blew his nose, then produced a brush and shovel from one of the cupboards and swept the broken ceramic shards into a bin.  
>Amy interjected, "You just seem to be a bit off lately is all."<br>"Erm. Doctor, since when do you sneeze?" Rory pondered.  
>"Oh, it was just a bit of dust from the cupboard. Hardly use this kitchen, you see. Need to a bit of cleaning in here." Explained The Doctor.<br>"You aren't becoming ill or anything are you? Do Time Lords even get sick?" questioned Rory, his tone serious. "Because you'd tell us if you were."  
>The Doctor took in both his companions in his gaze and one corner of his mouth pulled up into a smile. "Don't worry. A-Okay, that's me. Time Lords don't get sick." And everyone was silent, while The Doctor proceeded to prepare their cocoa.<br>It wasn't long before The Doctor joined the couple at the small round table, clumsily carrying all three blue and white striped mugs with his two hands and placed them down, managing to only spill a few drops. The cocoa was topped with whipped cream, chocolate sprinkles and marshmallows. Amy chuckled a little "And this is supposed to help us get to sleep?"  
>The Doctor had a cheeky grin on his face "Oh well, who needs sleep anyway?" Then The Doctor's face changed. His small eyebrows pulled together and his mouth made a wobbly shape. "Actually I might go drink mine in the console room. I have to make some adjustments to the breaks, or we might end up drifting into the time vortex during supper." And with that, he took his cocoa and walked from the room.<br>"That didn't last long." commented Amy.  
>"What is it exactly with how he keeps avoiding spending time with us?" quizzed Rory.<br>"I swear he spends more time with the TARDIS than he does with actual people", added Amy. Rory just shrugged. Amy heaved a sigh and the two of them sipped their cocoa in silence for a bit, until Rory suggested they just go and confront The Doctor properly.

Carrying their cocoa with them, Amy and Rory got back to the console room to the common sight of The Doctor's bottom half resting on his mechanic's creeper, which protrudes from the underside of the console.  
>After making himself comfortable on the yellow seat, next to Amy, Rory took another sip from his now half empty mug, cleared his throat and called in the most confrontation voice he could muster, "Doctor."<br>There was no answer.  
>"Doctor." repeated Rory, a little louder this time.<br>Still, there was no answer.  
>Rory and Amy just looked at each other with confused eyes.<br>"Err, Doctor?" spoke Rory, one more time.  
>This time there's a low sounding groan. Amy and Rory quickly get up. They realise The Doctor's untouched cocoa had been knocked over, melted marshmallows covering the floor next to him. They pull the Creeper out from underneath.<p> 


	3. Illness

The Doctor's eyes are pulled together tightly in a wince of obvious pain.  
>"Oh, Doctor!" Amy cries in alarm as Rory places a palm on The Doctor's forehead.<br>"He's burning up." Says Rory and sweeps the long fringe away from the Time Lord's forehead.  
>Amy quickly gets up and goes to the scanner. To her surprise the medical program is already open and running and is briefly curious as to why, before pushing the thought out of her head and selecting "The Doctor" from the lists of life forms already listed to be aboard the TARDIS. A window opens up showing abnormally high readings on his temperature and heartbeats. She looks down at her husband, the nurse, who is already holding two fingers to the Doctor's throat and then puts an ear to The Doctor's chest to listen to his breathing.<br>"Doctor, can you hear me Doctor? Listen, we have to get you to bed. Something is the matter with you."  
>He just answers with another low groan.<br>Rory hauls the Doctor up from under his arms and supports the Time Lord's lolling head. For a skinny bloke though, The Doctor is much heavier than he looks. Rory indicates for Amy to hold The Doctor's legs. Together the two of them carefully carry their ailed patient to their own bedroom and place him onto Amy's bunk.

Rory removes The Doctor's jacket and bowtie, while Amy goes about unlacing The Doctor's boots, then slipping each off one at a time. Amy then covers him with the duvet and strokes his usually cool-to-the-touch cheek, but is now so dangerously warm that she pulls her hand away.  
>"We have to get that temperature down" says Rory calmly "I'll get a cold cloth for his forehead. "<br>"Good idea" Amy replies in a somewhat empty voice, which cues Rory to lean down and kiss his wife.  
>"Don't worry, Amy. He'll be alright." Although deep down he really isn't sure of this and absentmindedly crosses his fingers as he walks from the bathroom and wets a cloth with cold water.<p>

The Doctor falls in and out of consciousness in the next few hours. Sometimes he would lean over and throw up, so Rory had to source out a container to keep by the bed. He'd also have to then wipe The Doctor's mouth each time with the cloth, which he then disposed of at the wash bin in the corner of the room and replaced it with a fresh one. While The Doctor had spoken, it didn't seem to be anything coherent. He would make long ramblings such as "Have you ever thought what it's like to be wanderers in the Fourth Dimension? Have you? To be exiles? Susan and I are cut off from our own planet - without friends or protection. But one day we shall get back. Yes, one day..", but then he'd stop in the middle of these long ramblings and offer the Ponds a jelly-baby. He had said some things which stirred pity for the ancient Time Lord inside themselves, such as "alone in the universe", "they all leave me" and "they break my heart". Rory changed the cloth on the Doctor's head, whenever it got too warm, which was much too quickly for the nurse's liking. Amy was constantly straightening the blankets and tucking the Doctor in, as he tossed and turned through the pained fever. At one point, Amy let out a yawn and Rory insisted she take a rest in his own bunk for a while. She was so tired she didn't put up a protest and was asleep within minutes.

Upon going to change the Doctor's cloth for what seemed like the fiftieth time, Rory opened the medicine cabinet out of curiosity. He was soon let down though. For a supposed "doctor", The Doctor was severely underprepared for a medical situation like this. The cabinet contained an empty box of sticky bandages, a measuring cup for administering medicines, of which there was none of, a few cotton buds and what looked like a tympanic thermometer. The type used in the ear and that produces a quick reading. Rory pocketed the thermometer and changed the cloth then returned to the bedroom, to find that the lower bunk was empty and The Doctor had gone.


	4. Critical Thinking

Amy was still very sound asleep in the bunk above and Rory wasn't keen on disturbing her. Instead, he walked about the TARDIS, thinking The Doctor can't have gone far and he'd be able to get him back into bed by himself. Sure enough a succession of violent sneezes from down the corridor revealed The Doctor's position. Rory enters the console room to find The Doctor tinkering away at his console and pulling some unrecognisable wires apart, causing sparks to fly. Rory walks up next to The Doctor and places a hand on the time lord's shoulder.  
>"Hello Doctor", Rory sighed.<br>"Buy me a drink first." the Doctor said, with a smirk.  
>"I beg your pardon?" said Rory, taken aback.<br>The Doctor wagged a finger in Rory's face as if to tell him off and said "Oi, I said no flirting".  
>"I'm not flirting with you. I only said hello."<br>"How many times do I have to tell you Jack? For you that's flirting."  
>"Doctor, my name's not Jack. I'm Rory" answered Rory, placing a second hand around the Doctor's other shoulder. Although he was looking directly into The Doctor's eyes, The Doctor didn't appear to be looking at anything in particular. His eyes were very glazed over and he let in a loud, slow and rattling breath. All of a sudden, The Doctor lurched over into a coughing fit. Rory caught him in his arms, supporting The Doctor until, he'd stopped coughing and the respiratory bypass set in.<br>"Come on. Let's get you back to bed". And with Rory supporting most of The Doctor's weight, they slowly made their way back to the bedroom. On the way, The Doctor rambled about how the main reactor at the Villengard weapons factory went critical, vaporizing the place and how it is now a banana grove. Rory finds a hard time in believing everything The Doctor says.

Once The Doctor was tucked in and seemed to be resting again, Rory took out the thermometer and took The Doctor's temperature. As far as he knew a normal reading should have been at least half of a human's regular body temperature. To any nurse, unaware of The Doctor's unique physiology though, this reading would seem to be only a little higher than that of a healthy human. This was very bad. Rory would test The Doctor's temperature again soon to check if he was getting any worse or not. A thought struck Rory. He began to search through Amy's belongings, until he came across the packet of aspirin. Rory collected a glass of cold water from the kitchen. Unsure of correct dosage, he decided to start off small and build up from there. Rory placed one tablet in the water and let it dissolve, then gently jostled the Doctor until he was conscious enough to sit up. The Doctor seemed somewhat apprehensive when Rory placed the glass at his mouth and kept his lips clenched closed.  
>"Please," Rory begged. "It will lower your temperature and help with the pain."<br>The Doctor groaned, but let his mouth open a little and Rory was able to administer the whole dose. When the Doctor was lying back down comfortably, Rory decided that The Doctor should have some food soon and went back to the kitchen. Rory hunted through the bigger-on-the-inside cupboards, until he'd located ingredients for soup and a tin pot. Throwing the ingredients together in the pot, he hoped that this outer space oven could handle metal inside it without blowing up or anything particularly inconvenient like that.


	5. Incoherrance

Amy blinked a few times and was surprised to find she was lying on Rory's bunk. Then with a heart-wrenching realisation, everything that had happened in the past few hours came flooding back. She clambered down the ladder and looked down at her Doctor. He'd thrown the covers off again and was shivering, so she tucked him in and gave him a kiss on his burning forehead, like how he had done to comfort her many a time. It was then that The Doctor reached out a clammy palm, held her Amy's hand tightly and spoke to her.  
>"It's like when you're a kid. The first time they tell you that the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it 'cause everything looks like it's standing still I can feel it, the turn of the Earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at a thousand miles an hour and the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go..." The Doctor released Amy's hand and pulled away. "That's who I am."<br>Amy felt like she was going to perhaps faint or throw up herself, but she managed to hold onto reality. She had no idea that this is what The Doctor feels all the time. How could anyone handle it? Spending long amounts of time in the TARDIS could put things a bit out of perspective, but definitely not for the first time since Amy had met the doctor, she suddenly felt very small in the scheme of the universe. And here, lying so feverish and vulnerable was perhaps the most powerful being in the cosmos, her best friend. Amy prayed. Prayed to God, Santa, anyone really that the Doctor would pull through this. The universe needed him. She needed him. Then, The Doctor spoke again.  
>"Falling in love, that didn't even occur to him? Then what sort of a man is that? ..And now you expect me to die?" The Doctor said this with so much emotion, that Amy felt as though she was invading on bits of his past that maybe she shouldn't be hearing. But then again, she felt curious. The Doctor is her best friend. She tells him everything. However, The Doctor talks all the time, but he never says anything, about his past or his feelings. He keeps it bottled up. He'll call himself a mad man with a box. Surely anyone would go mad, living for so long and not sharing their worries, fears or desires? Was she prying, by hearing him talk in his delirium? Or is it that The Doctor is finally comfortable to speak his mind? While these questions swam round Amy's head, her stomach rumbled. Time she got something to eat. She made her way to the door, when she once again heard the Doctor's voice.<br>"Quite right too" He said. "And I suppose... if it's my last chance to say it... Rose Tyler..." Then he turned over in his delirious sleep and didn't utter another word.


	6. Time Can Be Rewritten

Rory had finished preparing The Doctor's food. He even tried a bit for himself and it didn't taste half bad. He hoped a good meal would get the Doctor's strength back up. Amy wandered into the kitchen looking a little worse for wear. He put down the tray of food and embraced her in a long hug.  
>"Is everything alright?" He asked her.<br>"Oh Rory, just tell me The Doctor will be okay." She said, wetting her husband's shoulder with her tears.  
>"He'll be okay Amy. He won't die. Remember, we've seen The Doctor's death" Rory attempted to be reassuring.<br>"Time can be rewritten." said Amy in such a hushed voice that Rory only just caught it.  
>Rory pulled Amy away slightly, so he could look into her watery eyes. Tenderly, he held a hand up to them and brushed the tears away. Then he looked down at the floor and sighed.<br>"Are you alright?" asked Amy, concern filling her voice. "You look very tired."  
>"Well, I h-haverrrn't slllle-ept.." Rory said, just audibly, through a long yawn.<br>"Rory, this virus or whatever is wrong with The Doctor. You don't think it could be contagious at all do you?" questioned Amy.  
>Rory considered this. He'd been thinking along the same lines. "It's possible. However, I have a hunch that it is only able to manifest itself in bodies with a lower natural body temperature. Otherwise, I don't see how we wouldn't have caught it much earlier. Before the Doctor, even. I mean, he's supposed to have special Time Lord immunities or something, isn't he? We're merely human."<br>Amy's eyes focussed on Rory's face and she said "Either way. You should probably get some rest for a bit too. I promise I'll waken you if The Doctor seems any worse."  
>Rory let go of Amy and picked up The Doctor's tray again. "Okay Amy" he surrendered. "But only after he's got some food down him."<br>"Hang on." Amy said. She walked over to the fruit bowl on the bench, grabbed a couple of bananas. One for herself and she placed the other one on the tray for The Doctor with a smile. She then curled her long arm around Rory's elbow and together they walked back to the bedroom.  
>What they saw when they opened the door made Rory drop the tray completely.<p> 


	7. Fit as a Fiddle

If it was possible, The Doctor was even paler than before. His lips were a sickly tinge of blue. He looked dead. Amy and Rory were at The Doctor's bedside immediately. One of The Doctor's hands hung limply from under the covers, speckled with small hive-like looking bumps. Rory pulled The Doctor's shirt open and inspected his chest. It was covered in hives. What worried him more though was that The Doctor's chest was not rising, nor falling with any sign of breath. Rory checked The Doctor's pulse. He could feel one faint heartbeat. Right away, he commenced CPR, breathing into The Doctor's mouth and then counting compressions on The Doctor's still heart.  
>"What's happening to him?" said Amy, her voice sounding empty again. She took over the breathing for The Doctor, so Rory could speak to her.<br>"He's gone into anaphylactic shock" spoke Rory in a desperate voice. "It's an allergic reaction. It's, it's my fault." He admitted. Tears were leaking from his eyes.  
>"How on earth is it your fault, Rory?" She frantically asked.<br>"I gave him one of your aspirins. He must be allergic. I can perform CPR, but with all the lack of any kind of medical gear handy in this place there isn't much else I can do.  
>"Rory Pond." She blew another breath through The Doctor's blue lips. "You couldn't have known."<br>Between breaths she hastily and desperately looked around the room. Then, out of the corner of her eye she noticed something that made her own heart stop. Slung over the end of her bunk, was the Doctor's jacket. Through the tweed she could see a green glowing. Wasting no time, she reached into it and pulled out the sonic screwdriver and twisted it. A needle-type instrument, resembling an epi-pen emerged from the end. Rory watched his wife as she instinctively jabbed it into The Doctor's thigh.  
>"Yes! Yes!" cried Rory. "You need to hold it in his leg for ten seconds."<br>Amy obeyed and then removed the screwdriver and the needle end fell out onto the floor.  
>Together they kept up CPR for what seemed like the longest time in the universe. They cheered when The Doctor's heart began beating on its own and Rory started compressions to the other side of his chest, until they heard a magnificent sound. A gasp of breath came from The Doctor. <p>

He remained unconscious for a long time, but The Ponds both stayed awake and waited patiently, whilst frequently checking The Doctor's vitals and pleased to see that he was gradually stabilising to a far less worrying level than before. When The Doctor's fever finally broke, Rory took his much needed rest. When The Doctor regained consciousness Amy helped feed him a whole meal, which The Doctor managed to keep down. The whole ordeal had left the Time Lord's body extremely weak, so he would only stay awake for moments at a time, in which he would smile at Amy and Rory, thank them and drift back to the land of nod for several hours. Gradually he was awake for more hours at a time. They helped his wobbly self out of bed and to the bathroom when he had to relieve himself. He began eating like a horse, which was a very good sign and he slowly regained his strength back, until he decided he wanted to take a bath and clean himself up. Afterward, he stepped out, fully clothed and cleanly shaven, looking much like his old self, bowtie and all.  
>"I'm back." He announced.<br>"You're feeling completely better?" Amy beamed.  
>The Doctor threw his sonic screwdriver in the air with a spin and caught it. "Fit as a fiddle".<br>Amy ran and embraced her Doctor in an enormous hug, which Rory joined in. And right there in that moment, in the arms of her husband and her best friend, her boys. She felt literally over the moon. Rory was equally content. The Doctor released his companions. He wandered over to the TARDIS' console and laid a gentle hand on her dashboard. Her engines made the strangest of noises, as though she was heaving a sigh of relief.


End file.
